"Moby Dick" was literally a whale of a tale for Herman Melville, a time-consuming, painstaking endeavor that chewed up many years. The same has held true for anyone adapting the 1851 literary classic to other mediums.

Trying to create a live staging without the benefit of a sizable budget to help re-create the spectacle the story demands is perhaps the toughest task of all. Yet that's what Golden West College theater arts professor Tom Amen has attempted in a stage adaptation that took more than two years to write.

The results, the show's world premiere, can only be characterized as mixed. Without sacrificing any of his own creativity, Amen has captured the flavor of the novel through the use of literary, evocative language, much of it verbatim from Melville.

The production's visual aspects are also noteworthy, from Sigrid Hammer Wolf's marvelous and impressive scenic design of the whaling ship Pequod to Susan Thomas Babb's costumes and makeup, which evoke mid-19th century New England. It's all dramatically lit by Robert Mumm.

The acting, direction and inability to elicit intense emotions are another story. The performances are workmanlike, but none seem capable of rising to a level of virtuosity The story's pacing is tentative, perhaps overwhelmed by the enormity of the tale and the introduction of numerous characters over many scenes and frequent scene changes.

The epic story, of course, concerns Ahab (Lawrence Hemingway), the captain of the Pequod. Years earlier, in a violent encounter with a menacing, mammoth white whale men have named Moby Dick, Ahab's right leg was mutilated and chewed off. The trauma drove Ahab mad, and though seemingly recovered, he has become obsessed with vengeance.

"Moby Dick" follows the exploits of Ishmael (Mason Meskell), a young sailor who has been to sea four times but never worked on a whaling vessel. He signs on for three years with the crew of the Pequod in the port of New Bedford, Mass., and ships out on Christmas Day, 1841.

At first, he simply believes that Ahab, who remains hidden in his cabin, is a solitary soul. Eventually, though, he begins to piece together the back-story of the captain and the "mysterious monster" he pursues. All of the action, and all of the subordinate story threads, lead to the fierce, climactic confrontation between man and beast.

The entire tale is narrated by a much older Ishmael (Bruce Alexander) as a flashback. By the end of the play we realize that Ishmael, as the only character who escapes a watery death, is the only person capable of relating the tale.

One of the more gratifying aspects of director Amen's staging is the way he switches the narration back and forth between the older and younger Ishmaels, giving us a sense of being in the present with the old man at one moment, then back on the whaler decades earlier with the much younger Ishmael.

Ishmael aside, the key role, of course, is that of Ahab. Hemingway makes some interesting acting choices but takes a long time to reveal his character's roiling emotions. On the way there we learn Ahab was "moody," "savage," and temporarily insane after Moby Dick's rampage. Starbuck alone knows Ahab is still mad, but the frightening moodiness, ferocity and unpredictability we expect of Ahab are absent from Hemingway's portrayal.

Meskell comes off as just as green as his role of young Ishmael, while Alexander's Ishmael the Narrator is underwhelming. James Monroe is a logical, earnest first mate Starbuck, who is right in his conviction that tracking down Moby Dick is a colossal mistake but who lacks the courage to confine Ahab to his cabin.

Jason Wesley Green humanizes the thunderously pious Father Mapple and imbues him with heartfelt emotion. As effective is his Captain Boomer, who lost an arm in a battle with Moby Dick. Boomer is essentially Ahab's opposite, and Green shows him as bluff and hearty about his misfortune, declaring "No more white whales for me!" and saying Moby is "best left alone, isn't he?"

Amen's script is awash in memorable lines from Melville, from the world-famous opening line "Call me Ishmael" to Ahab's cursing Moby Dick in their final showdown, "From hell's heart, I stab at thee!" Using more underscoring to dramatize the action would have helped tremendously in creating atmosphere, as would the flavor of more nautical sound effects like crashing surf and squawking gulls. What's left is a production laudable in its reach, but whose goals are mostly just beyond its grasp.

Tom Amen's cast of 19 portrays more than 25 characters in addition to six women vocalists who sing beautifully as members of Seamen's Bethel Chapel in the whaling town of New Bedford, Mass. Pictured (front row, seated): Matthew Muggia, Christian Navarro, Eric Davis, Mason Meskell, James Monroe, Bruce Alexander, Alex Vazquez and John Bolen and (standing) Cameron Moore, Lawrence Hemingway, James Monroe, Brock Joseph and Joon Park. TOM AMEN
Father Mapple (Jason Wesley Green) addresses his congregation as "shipmates," then recounts the Biblical story of Jonah and the Whale. AKIN ODEBUNMI, ANO PHOTOGRAPHY
The logical, earnest first mate Starbuck (James Monroe) is the only person who realizes that Ahab never shook off the madness that engulfed him after Moby Dick chewed off his right leg. AKIN ODEBUNMI, ANO PHOTOGRAPHY
Captain Ahab (Lawrence Hemingway) holds up a gold dubloon and promises to give it to the first man in his crew who helps lead him to Moby Dick. AKIN ODEBUNMI, ANO PHOTOGRAPHY
First mate Starbuck (James Monroe, left) tries to counsel a restless Captain Ahab (Lawrence Hemingway) that trying to hunt down and kill the great white whale Moby Dick is commercially counterproductive - not to mention a danger to the ship and its crew. AKIN ODEBUNMI, ANO PHOTOGRAPHY
During the voyage, Captain Ahab (Lawrence Hemingway) crafts a new harpoon that promises to inflict maximum pain upon Moby Dick. AKIN ODEBUNMI, ANO PHOTOGRAPHY
Sailor Pip (Pedro Carachure, left) and first mate Starbuck (James Monroe) watch as Ahab prepares for battle with Moby Dick. AKIN ODEBUNMI, ANO PHOTOGRAPHY
Captain Ahab (Lawrence Hemingway) utters one of the novel's most famous lines: "From Hell's heart, I stab at thee!" AKIN ODEBUNMI, ANO PHOTOGRAPHY
Ahab (Lawrence Hemingway, left) confides in first mate Starbuck (James Monroe) that of the past 40 years, he only spent three years with his wife (Rayanne Thorn), saying "I widowed that poor woman the day I married her." AKIN ODEBUNMI, ANO PHOTOGRAPHY
Ahab's Wife (Rayanne Thorn) speaks in plaintive tones, her voice ringing in Ahab's head as he discusses her with Starbuck. TOM AMEN
Following the climactic, devastating encounter with Moby Dick, Ishmael (Mason Meskell), the sole survivor, clings to Queequeg's coffin in hopes that the whaling ship Rachel will return to rescue him. AKIN ODEBUNMI, ANO PHOTOGRAPHY

1 of

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.